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Examining websites and blogs on the Internet from around the world, a Japanese blogger compiled a list of the 26 coolest main or lead villains from manga and anime, and posted it (in no particular order?) on New Year's Day of this year, Saturday, January 1, 2011:

A voice actor can help make a particular villainous character cool and memorable. Therefore, their Japanese seiyuu with the character(s) they voice have been added to the list by a poster at Japan's 2-Channel (2ch) forums.

According to this 2011 list, male characters make up 25 of the 26 coolest villains from manga and anime.

Rozen Maiden's Suigintou is the only female villain on the list.

Only two Japanese female voice actors (seiyuu), Takayama Minami (Hao in Shaman King) and Tanaka Rie (Suigintou in Rozen Maiden), voice any of the 26 coolest manga and anime villains.

P.S. Known for dressing up as many of the characters she voices in anime, video games and whatnot, as well as a number of other fictional characters, Tanaka Rie's cosplay of Suigintou decorates the body of a car in Japan:

Without a doubt it's Aizen from Bleach. He carries out his plans quite smoothly, and is absurdly powerful to the point where he can curb-stomp just about anyone if he feels like getting his hands dirty. Not that he ever needs to when he can just use Kyoka Suigetsu to lead you astray, though. A formulaic by-the-book villain, yes, but it's so damn entertaining to watch him keikaku doori everyone.

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I'm saying that practically nobody feels that they're talented.
That's what makes us strive to improve.
As we strive to improve
we notice the people around us improving too
which makes us work even harder.
In a way, I guess you could say friends are like rivals

I feel like I'm going to get smacked with a rotten tomato for saying this, but I find good ol' Team Rocket from Pokemon to be my favorite villains/antagonists. Jesse, James, and Meowth are characters that I can relive my childhood through: I never get tired of reciting their oft repeated creed. One can argue that they aren't really 'villains' or 'antagonists' because they often team up with Ash and his crew but I disagree. Certainly, TR has sided with Ash in the past but this was often for a common goal or against a common enemy and I'm going to reiterate that somone does not have to shoot puppies or stuff women in freezers to be considered an antagonist. They merely need to work against the protagonist and Team Rocket does just that. And they're awfully fun to watch.

I think that Light Yagami from Death Note would also be one of my favorite villains. While he may have been the main focus of the show the anime obviously paints him as an evil character (and even the author himself states something similar). But, even though by the end of the series you want to shoot him with a shot gun, one has to admit that he is so fun to watch (even if it is only to see his eventual fall). Light, by the end of Death Note, is basically concentrated evil juice. However, he is also a genius at the beginning and the way he toys with L and the FBI, and his eventual spiral into insanity, is incredibly engaging to watch. His dramatic end at the culmination of the series is a satisfying end to a great villain.

Can't think of a favourite for anime right now, but although not strictly an anime; Duke from Tales of Vesperia get's an honourable mention.

He's a great example of a fallen/jaded hero who, although ultimately well intentioned (and more so at the beginning), becomes so wrapped up in his persuit of the greater good and ultimate goal, and weary of the events around him, that he fails to percieve that his actions and goal have begun to twist in the opposite manner.

Really enjoyed that game, and genuinely liked you could feel real empathy and understanding for the motivations of the 'villain' by the end. Truly felt like playing through a decent fantasy anime, even if it was a little cliched at times.

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Total Anime watched= Enough. What can I say? I'm a convert...
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PRAY FOR SPICE AND WOLF III and faster Yenpress novel releases!
Reading: Rosario and Vampire II, Sankarea

Chouji Suitengu from Speed Grapher
He kills all the corrupt politicians and celebs who drowned themselves in greed and filth. Due to his tragic past, he holds a deep hatred for money. The greatest thing he ever did was burning trillions in cash in a building bankrupting an entire country affecting a dozen others financially. He may have lost the final battle but he won the war.

My favorite antaonist(s), in terms of a pure guilty pleasure, would be:

Ray and Charles Beams from Eureka Seven. Instead of this brain vomit called Ao, Bones should have given us a 26 episode story focused on Ray and Charles adventures, prior to being cursed to meet their doom so a whiny, snot-faced, protagonist could grow as a character.

Actually, there's such a long list of antagonists I love, and it's probably at least ten times longer than the list of protagonists I love.

Mine would be sesshomaru because he changes so much in the story. Out of the characters he has the most depth and character change. I always wished he would get his own series, I liked him way better than inuyasha

There are so many great ones that I'm probably not thinking of but off the top of my head, I think my two favorites are:

1. DonQuixote Doflamingo from One Piece. In some ways this guy is a caricature of all evil overlord style villains as every aspect of his character is taken to absurd, laughable, extremes. In some ways he's completely absurd and hilarious, but is mostly just menacing and insane. I think what's great about Doflamingo is that absurd and silly as his character is he's never portrayed in One Piece as anything but an insane uber bad-ass.

Whereas most villains are eventually defeated or at least beaten up at some point in a comic book, Doflamingo is only presented in situations that are going in his way, usually involving him betraying lesser villains in a Darwinian fashion, or engaging in some nefarious enterprise, like:

Spoiler:

Running a slaving house and overseeing the construction of a terrifying chemical weapon

. His still as of yet unnamed power (after like 700 chapters), seemingly gives him the ability to control other characters like puppets, and this ability completes his caricature of the ultimate evil overlord, who i always cloaked in mystery. Every villain has to be defeated eventually, but few villains have been built up so masterfully, over such a long series, as DonQuixote Doflamingo. He's a bad guy so epic and so hilarious that you almost want to root for him, except he's such a despicable, , backstabbing, lying, heartless, ruthless, psychopath. This guy is the best example of why One Piece is the only Shonen Manga I have kept reading even to this day (after like 700 chapters, even after I dropped Naruto, Bleach, FairyTail and Kenichi.

2. Envy in both his incarnations was probably my second favorite villain from any series. He was so ruthless and even sadistic and yet such a pitiful, tragic creature that you couldn't help but empathize with him. (they did this differently in both versions but both did a good job). I thought it was particularly sad and well done in FMA: Brotherhood when he:

Spoiler:

committed suicide after Ed finally understood his motivation

This scene really reinforced the tragedy of what Homunculi really are which is a great role that Envy plays as a villain.

In spite of all these attributes which would seem likely to make him a grim and unlikable character, a lot of his charm came from how witty and funny some of his lines were. In fact, I'd go so far as to say he was one of the most consistently hilarious characters in the whole FMA franchise.